The Other Side of the Shadows
by rockon657
Summary: Dash makes an amazing discovery - and everything goes wrong. Powerful monsters have been unleashed into our world, and the only one who can stop them is a strange boy whose entire existance is shrouded in mystery - and not just to the Incredibles...
1. The Chase

_Anyone who didn't see The Incredibles, go out and see it _**RIGHT NOW**_. It is perhaps the best movie on the market lately. clears throat That I've seen of course. Those of you who did see it, tell__me that wasn't an awesome movie. Go ahead, I dare you. Liars. OK, anyway, here's-a my fanfic._

**DISCLAIMER: **_Sorry, folks, gotta have the bad news first. The Incredibles (and Syndrome) are not mine to call my own. They are currently in custody of Disney/Pixar. But not for long. Oh, wait, did I say that out loud? Um… Anyway chuckles nervously all the other characters are mine, including Sam, Urnox and Aernox, and the badly drawn dinosaurs. Urnox and Aernox are the only characters I created exclusively for this fanfic. And did I do a good job with it or what!_

And now - our feature presentation.

**The Incredibles:  
The Other Side of the Shadows**

**Chapter 1**

**The Chase**

_People have said that it "must be easy to be a super". Whenever I hear that, I laugh. It's not easy. Not at all. I know. I've been there. Oh, I'm not into the hero biz anymore. There hasn't been any excitement for Violet and me ever since we took out Syndrome about a year ago. Mom and Dad do some robberies and stuff like that every once in a while, but there's never anything big._

_Oops! I'm sidetracking again._

_Supers have to be careful their identities don't get out, or their social lives would be on a one-way train to no-man's land. This isn't baseball. You only get one strike._

_Also, you have powers. And that's just what they are - powerful. The go out of control if you're not careful. Or, some - like my power - don't go out of control, but can lead to an untimely doom. Just picture running into a tree at a hundred miles an hour. Ouch._

_You see, we supers don't have it off as easy as you think. And the superer…super……… and the more super you are, the harder it gets…_

Dashiell Parr slumped against the table, scowling at the vegetables on his plate. His mother, Helen Parr, looked up from her food. "Why aren't you eating, Dash?" she asked.

Dash grunted, then said quietly, "I'm not hungry."

Helen and her husband, Bob, exchanged glances. "You will be," Bob warned his son. Next to Helen, her baby son, Jack Jack, giggled loudly.

Dash grunted again, then muttered under his breath, "I hate healthy food."

"What was that?" Helen asked.

Dash straightened up. "Uh, nothing," he said.

Across the table, Dash's sister, Violet, stifled a giggle with her hand.

"Oh, shutup," he snarled at her quietly.

"What did I say about using that word?" Helen asked him sternly, "Go to your room."

Here, Jack Jack began thrashing about in his high chair and screaming with laughter.

Dash frowned at the floor, then slipped off his chair and began to stomp off towards his room. Helen's eyes met with Bob's, who added, "And bring your dinner with you." Dash flung his head back and threw his arms into the air, shouting a cry of displeasure. Father and daughter shared hushed laughter as Dash trudged away with his plate.

In his room, Dash glared at the door, muttering curses against parents and sisters and vegetables under his breath. He could hear Jack Jack laughing hysterically in the kitchen. Dash growled something about "not that funny" and dumped the food on his plate into the trash can.

He dove on to his bed and lay there, still mumbling and grumbling. He wished there was never any such thing as green beans or spinach or mashed potatoes. He wished junk food like candy and cookies and cake and ice cream was just as healthy as asparagus. Of course, we've all made wishes like that at some point in our lives, some more recently than others.

But amidst all his whining and complaining, something called to young Dashiell Parr. Something called out his name, begging for him to answer. He looked up, and saw the window. He scoffed. The window. The _WINDOW_ was calling out to him. He shook his head. And that was when he saw it. Out there, beyond the window, a glorious sunset, an empty street, a wide meadow. It was now clear. And he was ready.

A drawer of Dash's dresser lay open. It was empty. On the bed, Dash himself lay, tying socks together. He opened the window, tossed his newly made rope through it, and climbed out into the evening air. _Time for a little walk,_ he thought. _But why settle for something as low-class as that? _ He grinned and took off running down the street at a speed no other man could match.

Smiling at the houses streaming by, Dash sniffed the cool, late evening air. What a perfect time for a run! He zoomed out toward a wide open plain. That was when he noticed the small, disk-like machine flying after him. He pushed himself, running as fast as he could, but the disk was gaining. Sweat flowed down his face like rivers. This thing chasing him was unfamiliar, but he had a feeling it was hostile. Better safe than sorry.

Eyes closed, teeth clenched, Dash tried as hard as he could to escape the strange machine, but the distance between hunter and hunted steadily declined. He opened his eyes just in time to see a large tree coming straight at him. He yelped and swerved, barely dodging it. Suddenly, he forgot about the machine behind him. His pace slowed. His mouth dropped open. _What was going on?_

Trees lined the path he was running along. _Trees? Path?_ He wasn't on a path before! There were no trees at _all_ before - let alone a whole forest! He slowly came to a complete stop. Then, with a shout, he remembered the disk machine. He spun around, hoping to find his death staring him in the face, but instead, what greeted him was… _nothing?_

Dash stared back the way he had - supposedly - come. He stood like this for a short while, before letting out a nervous titter, and turning back. "**_WHOA!_**" he screamed.

_I know this chapter is short, but hey, it's only the first chapter! I was focusing on the origin of Dash's discovery, so bug off. Then review my fic. Yay bossiness! Stay beautiful, everybody! I promise I'll update soon!_


	2. If You Think Our World Is Bad

_**Disclaimer:** I doth not own ye Incredibles. I doth yes own everything else._

_H'OK, here's-a ze zecund schapter. Um… yeah. I have nothing to say. Um... rabbits! Don't you hate it when you want to say something but don't know what to say? It's so irritating!_**I WANT TO SHOOT THE GUY WHO MADE ORANGE MARSHMELLOWS THAT SMELL LIKE HAMBURGERS! **_What? Hmm. Just read the stupid chapter and send a stupid review. Well, not a stupid review, but send a review. And be sure to make the message sound very much like that one thing that……… _

**Chapter 2**

**If You Think Our World Is Bad**

The man before him yelped and jumped back. "Whoa," he gasped, "Oh, my… I'm sorry to scare you like that!"

"Scared!" Dash shouted. That was when he realized - the dude had a sword!

He backed away slowly. "I was just -" A lump in his throat cut him off. He swallowed, and continued, "- surprised, that's all."

"Well! I certainly can't blame you," the guy said. "I shouldn't have been up in your face like that. I apologize."

Dash, who had never before in his life been confronted with speech this polite, was at a loss for words. "Uh…" he said, his eyes darting back and forth as if looking about his surroundings for something to say. The guy didn't seem to notice this, and simply continued to gaze at Dash with a friendly smile.

This went on for quite some time, until the dude said, "So what is your world like?"

Dash was stunned. "Wh-what?"

"I wasn't born yesterday!" the guy exclaimed, "You're not from this place!"

Dash stared at him for a little while, then, for lack of anything better to say, declared, "You're good!"

The guy flashed a smile and winked at Dash. "I know."

Dash began to look around, taking in his newly acquired surroundings. "So, what about my question?" the guy asked him.

"Oh! Right!" Dash exclaimed, "Well… My… er, _world_… is mostly like this one -"

The dude interrupted with a scoff. "I should have known," he said curtly, "For all the imagination he has, he sure doesn't use it a lot."

Dash was - to say the least - completely **_baffled_**. "What are you talking about?" he asked hesitantly.

The guy looked at him, then said, "Here, follow me."

Dash looked around. He was walking through what looked like a small village. "This - all this - was created by a boy named Tom," the guy who was introduced at the beginning of the chapter told Dash.

"He built all this?" Dash asked, amazed.

"Well - with his mind."

"Wha- huh?" Dash yelped, leaping back a step, "He built this with his **_MIND?_**"

"Well - yes. Our world is made from people's imaginations. This place was made from Tom's. That's why it's called Tomville."

At that moment, there was a loud rumbling that came in bursts, much like the T-Rex's steps in Jurassic Park. Dash spun around wildly, searching for the source. "What IS that?" he shouted over the noise.

The guy gave a cry of frustration. "IT'S THOSE **_STUPID DINOSAURS_** AGAIN!"

"Dinosaurs?" Dash whimpered. A huge form suddenly burst out of the forest. Dash began to scream, but it died in his throat. He raised an eyebrow and glanced at the guy, who sighed and nodded. The "dinosaur" was big, white, and looked like a child's drawing pulled off a page and enlarged to the size of three elephants.

It consisted of almost no more than a single line. Its hands and feet were just three points on the end of its arms and legs. Its tail was small and, Dash thought, pitiful compared with the size of the dinosaur itself. Its eyes were just elongated dots protruding off the top of the dino's head. Lines slanted inward on top of the dots, forming very unimaginative angry eyebrows. Its mouth was merely a gap in the front of its head, and the teeth were points jutting out of the roof and floor (or whatever the bottom of your mouth is called) - much like the claws.

Dash shook his head, thoroughly perturbed. He gestured at the dinosaur violently, asking his guide, "WHAT **_IS_** THIS?"

The guy rolled his eyes and drew imaginary quotes in the air with his fingers. "The '_Badly-Drawn Dinosaurs_'!" he snarled, "Tom thought it was _OH SO _funny. Watch this…"

He pointed at the dino - which was indeed badly drawn. It looked around a little, then threw back its head, opened its mouth unbelievably wide, and roared, "**_TOM WAS HERE!_**"

"See what I mean?" the guy said, his voice dripping with scorn. Dash stared at the dinosaur, one eyebrow raised. He shook his head, saying, "I don't think I wanna meet this Tom guy."

"Oh, me neither," the guy reassured him.

"Hey," Dash said, turning to the guy, "What's your name? Because the narrator just can't keep calling you 'the guy' or 'the dude' all the time like that. It's getting annoying."

"Oh God, tell me about it!" the guy - er, I mean, Dash's… uh… _companion_ said, "He's done that ever since I was created!"

"So what is it?" Dash asked.

"Uh," his companion said, rubbing his arm, "I never really had a name. I'm just a figment of Tom's imagination that he likes to mess around with."

Dash gasped. "That's horrible!"

"Oh, it's not that bad!" the other one said shrugging. He winked at Dash. "I get to take out a lot of baddies." He patted the hilt of his sword.

The two began walking through the village. Dash's face suddenly brightened considerably. "I've got an idea!" he cried, "Let's make _UP_ a name for you!"

"Hm… how about… Hahphyjh?"

Dash looked at him funny.

"I know, it sounds weird." He blushed. "I'm not too good at making up names. I've never tried before, really."

"It sounds cool!" Dash said encouragingly, "But there's a lot of H's. How do you even pronounce that?"

EDITOR'S NOTE: Of course, he can't see the name, and his… er… friend already pronounced it, but he's saying that so you can know how to pronounce it. How considerate!

Dash's friend smiled. "It's (hah - fizh)."

"That's **_SWEET!_**" Dash shouted, pumping his fist in the air.

Hahphyjh smiled.

"So," Dash said. He was walking alongside the newly christened Hahphyjh. "What other kinds of stuff are here?"

"Hm," Hahphyjh said, scratching his chin, "Where do I start? There's the village, that road there leads downtown… Ah!" He reached down and picked up a newspaper off the ground. He turned to Dash and showed it to him. "The _Tomville Times_!"

Dash scrunched up his face. "Don't tell me - really stupid."

Hahphyjh dropped the _Times_ and clicked his tongue. "Pretty much," he said.

He then began leading Dash toward the city. "There. See that?" he said quietly. Hahphyjh was referring to a small building, much like one of our houses.

Dash stared at it. "…Yeah?"

Hahphyjh smiled humorlessly. "Our hero," he said, his voice laden with scorn.

Suddenly, the house's door burst open, and a brown-haired man wearing baggy jeans, a tee-shirt - and a huge red cape with a big A inside a gold, upside-down triangle - burst out. "You called?" he said, one eyebrow raised and his arms open wide like a movie star showing off.

"No, not really," Hahphyjh said, his voice a monotone, his lips turned down in a grimace.

"Oh," the man said. His arms dropped, and he looked rather surprised. He began gesturing to the door. "Well! I'll just… uh… I'll just - er - go back… inside then…" His eyes flicked from Dash to Hahphyjh over and over. Then he took a deep breath, wound up to break into a run, and took off into his house, tripping over his cape as he went. They heard his voice cry out, "Whoaa-OAAA!" then there was a loud crash.

Dash winced, but Hahphyjh rolled his eyes and scowled. "What an idiot…" he muttered.

"Who was that?" Dash asked.

Hahphyjh shook his head. "'_Captain Awesome_'," he said, "The 'coolest super hero that ever lived'."

Dash laughed. "He actually says that?" he asked.

Hahphyjh sputtered impatiently. "Just look at him!" he screeched, "Does he look like someone who wouldn't?"

Dash smiled, thinking of how hard it would be to describe his new friend to his family.

The two friends continued walking down the path. As the city grew closer, the forest swelled towards them. Dash, looking aimlessly off into the trees, noticed a small path, the grass barely worn from little use. "What's down there?" he asked Hahphyjh.

Hahphyjh looked where he was pointing. His eyes darkened. "Oh," he said, "Oh, er… that's the…" He stopped, and let his head fall to his chest. "Let me just show you."

Dash looked ahead, trying to see where they were headed. The path was much longer than it had looked at first. The heavily clustered trees blocked most sunlight from streaming in, preventing proper sight. He felt Hahphyjh's eyes on him. "Don't fret it," his friend reassured him.

"I can't see _anything!_" Dash griped, "It's so dark!" He was interrupted by a low chirping from far away in the dark undergrowth. "And _creepy_," he added, curling his upper body into a little ball.

Hahphyjh laughed. "It only gets better from here," he said with a sly smile.

They soon reached what Dash was waiting for - but it wasn't exactly what Dash was waiting for. "This is it?" he asked skeptically.

Hahphyjh shrugged. "This is it."

They were looking at a large, one-story building, made entirely of a dull steel-like metal. A few windows dotted the surface - sufficient to let in sunlight, but not common enough to allow much vision from the outside in. Dash stared at it, disappointed. Hahphyjh glanced over at him.

"Hey," he said, nudging Dash and flicking his eyes at the building pointedly, "just wait until we get inside. You won't be disappointed."

Dash believed him.

Inside the door, a man stood, wearing a police uniform that was a deep green. The inside of the building was very dimly lit.

"Wow. Dreary," Dash said.

"Yeah," Hahphyjh answered smiling, "Makes you almost like it outside, huh?"

"Outside?" the officer suddenly screeched, "Outside - **_BAD?_** Just try standing guard in here with these - these _THINGS!_" He pointed at a gigantic glass case built into the wall behind him.

Dash stared at it. "It's… empty," he said, as if the guard was crazy.

He laughed in a way that almost proved Dash right. "That's what they always say when they see it," he said leaning in close to Dash, "_BECAUSE THEY CAN'T SEE THEM!_"

Dash blinked. Hahphyjh blinked. The guard rolled his eyes and sighed. "Come here," he said, grabbing their arms and pulling them off to the side of the tank. Dash started to ask what was going on, but the guard put a finger to his lips. "Shhh…" he hissed softly. After a long while of complete silence, both Dash and Hahphyjh began to wriggle with boredom. The guard suddenly gripped their shoulders, staring into the hallway he was just guarding. His guests exchanged glances. Suddenly –

"Do you hear that?" Hahphyjh whispered.

"Yeah," Dash answered, "What is it?"

"_**I** _don't know!" Hahphyjh hissed.

"Haven't you been here before?"

"No! I've just heard about it. Stories…"

"It's from a book Tom wrote," the guard interrupted, "A scary book, called _Freak Out!_ It contains ten scary stories. This is the first…" He shuddered as the unidentified noise grew clearer. "_Laughter in the Upper Room_."

And now the two friends realized what they were hearing. All three leaned around the corner to see hundreds of dancing figures, glowing a beautiful shade of periwinkle, dancing, shouting, laughing. And it was apparent this was not some kind of ethereal party - the shouts were taunting, the laughs cruel.

"In the story," the guide said, horrified, "the ghosts lured people into the highest room in an abandoned castle with their laughter, and…" His voice trailed off. He swallowed loudly. "Curiosity killed the cat."

The spirits suddenly stopped everything and turned to face them. The three froze, eyes wide. Then the ghosts swirled into nothing - literally disappeared.

"Apparently our friend Tom isn't a _COMPLETE _goofball," Hahphyjh whispered quietly, sounding like he had something in his throat.

The guide slumped against the wall. "I can hear them laugh as I stand guard," he said, "It drives me crazy."

"Why do you do it then?" Dash asked.

The guard smiled. "Someone has to do it, my young friend. It's an act of selfless loyalty for our land, they always tell us. Now," he said, hoisting himself up and starting over to his stand, "you fellas want to see the rest of the stories? I'm afraid you'll see some guards have it worse than me."

_There you go folks - a longer chapter! It's still a little shorter than  
the average chapter anyone else writes, but hey, once again, it  
was the perfect place to stop. _

_---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------_

_Yes, the Tom they're talking about is me._

_---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------_

_I'm writing as fast as I can, everybody - anything for an adoring fan club!  
Anyway, I get banned from the computer every once in a while,  
so I'll do my best to get this done fast._

_--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------_

_This chapter is my Christmas present to everyone out there.  
For anyone who doesn't celebrate Christmas, I respect you greatly for staying calm  
in the face of everyone else doing stuff different from you. Just want you guyses to know.  
Merry Christmahanakwanzika, everybody! Stay beautiful!_


	3. All Wrong

_This is quite a long one compared to the others. I know I didn't write for a long time, _**DON"T YELL AT ME! **_I have a life, as much as I don't seem like it. I know the whole reference to "Freak Out!" is retarded and has no point to the story, but whatever. I worked very hard on this for all yous. Enjoy!_

_Disclaimer: I don't own Le Incredibales. Whatever, French blows._

**Chapter 3**

**All Wrong**

Dash and Hahphyjh wandered down the hallway away from the guard's post. They both began to slow considerably as a tiny scratching noise could be heard. They soon came upon another guard.

Wh- What's that noise?" Dash asked, not sure he wanted to know.

"That noise?" the guard repeated, tilting his head to the side. He smiled. "That, little man, is the sound of our arachnid friends longing to be free again."

"Say what?" Dash and Hahphyjh said at the same time.

The guard pulled them around the corner.

Dash let out a shriek.

The sight before him was one out of a nightmare – one not all that different from one Dash had a year or so ago. There was a glass tank, like the first story, but this one didn't look empty. In fact, it was **_PACKED FULL_** – of our 'arachnid friends', a.k.a. spiders. Thousands of spiders, ranging from the tiniest imaginable to the size of a dinner plate. The tank was filled with blacks and browns and grays and tans, dancing and bobbing as the spiders clambered over and under each other, scrambling against the glass as if to knock it loose in order to escape.

Hahphyjh looked disgusted and yet fascinated at the same time, while Dash backed against the opposite wall, twitching in horror.

"Oh, little man," the guard said, noticing Dash. He gestured toward the wall. "The, uh, tank here didn't exactly fit all of 'em, so we, uh, put the rest in that wall."

Dash screamed and leapt away from it, spinning a full 180 degrees in mid-jump to land facing it.

The guard laughed. "Just kidding, buddy. Sorry, I couldn't resist."

Dash glared at him.

"So, what's this story called?" Hahphyjh asked, obviously oblivious to what had just happened from examining the spiders so closely.

"Ah, haha!" the guard said with a laugh, "Check it out!" He pointed to a space above the tank. A plaque was nailed there. Hahphyjh's eyebrow slowly shifted upwards as he read it aloud.

" '_How I Became…_' "

The guard nodded, grinning from ear to ear. "_Arachnophobic_!" he said, finishing the title of the story. "They chose me to guard this one 'cause I love spiders! I'm so much like the main character! … Except I'm older than him…" He scratched the back of his head. "… And I wasn't chased out of my village by a wicked huge swarm of spiders…"

Hahphyjh almost laughed.

"That was a neat one," Hahphyjh said with a smile, walking down the hallway. A low growl rumbled in Dash's throat. Hahphyjh's smile widened. Then they heard someone laugh loudly. It was another guard, who was laughing wildly at something that was making a sharp rapping on the glass.

Hahphyjh looked confused. "The guy back there said this one's called 'When Things Go Wrong'…" he said, baffled, "Why's he laughing?"

"Well!" Dash answered happily, "It's a funny story! As if it wasn't good enough that it just isn't scary!"

"What are you laughing at, anyway?" Hahphyjh asked the guard. "Oh, I'm sorry," the guard said, "I shouldn't be laughing, but it's just_ so funny_ how the things would **_KILL_** themselves in order to get out!"

Another round of tapping broke out, and the guard burst into hysterical fits of laughter.

Two pairs of eyebrows went up simultaneously.

Two heads poked around the corner to see.

"_Fuzzballs?_" Dash asked quizzically.

"Fuzzballs with _faces?_" Hahphyjh asked quizzically.

They both began to laugh. Then one of the little brown spheres of fur pressed its face against the glass. The two leapt into each others' arms with a shriek.

The little thing grinned evilly, its large, black eyes glinting menacingly. It stretched its mouth open to a ridiculous size, revealing three rows of tiny dagger-teeth, glimmering pearly white. The mouth slowly opened wider and wider, then slammed shut with a **_SNAP_** that could be heard on the other side of the glass. Dash and Hahphyjh jumped, still huddled together. All the little fuzzballs began bouncing around, smirking wickedly.

The guard laughed again. "I think this is the only exhibit where the captives enjoy getting visits," he said, "But the only thing that makes them happier than scaring people –" he paused, "– is _EATING THEM!_" His guests whimpered. "BUT!" the guard continued, "You wanna know what reeeally drives them mad?"

He leaned in close and whispered, "Laughing," then stood back and smiled. "Here, I'll tell you boys a joke. Did you hear about the atheistic, dyslexic insomniac?"

Dash and Hahphyjh exchanged confused glances. "Nope," they said at the same time.

The guard sniggered. "He stayed up all night wondering if there was a dog!" He snorted, and then he and Hahphyjh roared with laughter.

"I don't get it," Dash said, while the fuzzballs began glaring at them.

One by one they charged the glass, slamming into it with all their might. The two older guys cackled even louder.

Dash growled. "Fine! I'm going to the next one!" He left the guard and Hahphyjh to laugh their heads off.

Dash stood in front of the next exhibit. "What the –"

He glanced back. The guard was sleeping. He looked up at the sign. It said "_Holiday Fear_". Dash scoffed. "That explains the Christmas tree!" he said loudly.

It was completely dark behind the glass, except for the dim light from the tree in the corner. The exhibit was made to look like a living room. Dash could even just barely see a fireplace with stockings hung above –

_**WHAM!**_

Something slammed into the glass just in front of Dash. He yelped and leapt backward.

"Sometimes it seems to forget there's glass there…" a sleepy voice said behind Dash.

He wasn't listening. Two hands, looking not very different from human hands, were pressed against the glass, moving around. They curled up, then pulled away. A fist smashed into the glass, jarring it.

"Aw, poor baby," the guard said sarcastically. He scoffed, and, seeing Dash looking at him, said, "'S like the thing needs to strangle any thing it sees."

"What _IS_ it?" Dash asked, watching the hands scratch at the glass, looking very much like they were trying to wring someone's neck.

The guard heaved himself to his feet and walked over to a padlock on the wall next to his chair. He typed in a code on it, and it slid open with a hiss, revealing a light switch.

Hahphyjh came around the corner. "Oh, Dash, here you are," he said. He looked into the exhibit. "Creepy."

The guard chuckled. "Watch this," he said. He flipped the switch.

Lights went on in the exhibit.

"It's not there!" Dash exclaimed.

"Oh, it is," the guard said.

"Is it invisible?"

The guard shook his head. "Hiding."

"From what?"

"The light."

A low, rumble came from off to the side of the exhibit.

"Here it comes!" the guard exclaimed.

The rumble slowly grew into a piercing, high-pitched shriek. Everyone covered their ears, grimacing, as they watched a strange creature looking somewhat like Gollum from The Lord of the Rings come flying into view, zooming about, knocking things over. All the while, it screamed… and screamed, and screamed, and screamed. It dived into a head plant on the floor, covering its head with its hands, scooting around on its elbows and knees. It probably sounds entertaining to watch, but Dash felt a strange sense of pity.

The guard flicked the switch off.

"Pitiful," he said, as the screams died down.

"Why does it do that?" Dash asked quietly.

The guard shrugged. "It hates bright light. It hangs around Christmas trees, though, but nobody knows why. Maybe it thinks its – I dunno – pretty or something."

"It's kinda sad."

The guard nodded solemnly. "It'll calm down. I've watched it. It'll lie there, twitching a while, then it'll stop. It sleeps, or something. A nap or something, you know? Then it'll get up, and sit in front of the tree, as usual."

Dash smiled. "OK, cool. Well, um, see ya, then."

"Oh, uh, you might want to stop right here, the next one's a little…" He cleared his throat loudly.

"Sweet," Hahphyjh said, "I gotta see this."

The friends rounded the next corner to find the exhibit guard sitting in his chair, hands clenched around the seat so tightly that his knuckles were white. He looked frail, and he whimpered to himself all the time, occasionally interrupted by a spasm of twitching.

"Um…" Dash said hesitantly, looking at Hahphyjh, "maybe that last guy was right?"

Hahphyjh grinned. "Are you kidding? This is going to be great!" He advanced toward the guard. "Hey!" he said.

The guard jumped, yelping. "S-sorry," he stammered, "W-what do y-you want?"

"Um, nothing," Dash said, stepping forward while running a finger underneath his collar, "We were just wondering where the nearest exit –"

"What's this exhibit called?" Hahphyjh interrupted.

"_Exhibit?_" the guard shrieked, "Ha!"

Hahphyjh blinked. "OK…" he said. He walked around to the glass wall, looking at the plaque above. "'_Eternity Beckons_'? Interesting." He gazed into the tank, and…

"It's… a little cloud."

Behind the glass, a small cloud of green-colored haze hovered a few feet above the ground.

"Oh, it's more than that," the guard said, giggling madly.

"How is it more? It's just floating there, it's not doing anything."

"_You don't know anything! That thing is the very essence of death and suffering!_"

The two began to argue, neither noticing Dash, who was standing rigidly, staring into the cloud. His eyes glazed over. The sound of angry voices faded into nothing, and the only sound was an airy, hollow voice that echoed inside Dash's head. At first it was indistinguishable, but as it grew louder, the last half of a word could be heard: "-iell… -iell…" The echoing was driving Dash crazy.

The voice was roaring in his ears now, and for the first time he realized – it was calling him. "Dashiell…" it screamed, "Dashiell…"

He took a step forward. What did it want from him? Why was it calling him?

"Dashiell…"

He wanted to get to it. He pressed his nose against the glass. If only it wasn't there…

"OK, then what does it do? Why is this stupid thing so terrifying?" The guard glared at Hahphyjh. He opened his mouth to say something, but stopped. His face relaxed, his eyes deepening into fathomless pits of fear. "… Eternity beckons…" he whispered.

Hahphyjh hesitated, thinking. Then it hit him, and he spun around to see his friend pushing against the glass, and the cloud…

The cloud was moving, slowly floating toward the boy. It seemed to be swirling faster, its foggy green color now a glistening shade of emerald.

"**_NO!_**" Hahphyjh shouted, diving at Dash. He wrapped his arms around his friend, falling toward the hard floor. He twisted so he wouldn't crush Dash, and smashed onto the floor, with Dash lying, unconscious, on top of him…

Dash slowly came to his senses. His vision was blurry, so he couldn't make out where he was, but he knew he was lying in a bed. "– can't stay here forever," he heard a distant voice say with a slight tinge of irritation, "He needs to get home. His parents are probably already worried."

"The boy needs to rest! After something like that, you can't expect him to just hop out of bed and go trotting about!"

Dash ducked underneath the covers as Hahphyjh stormed into the room, muttering angrily under his breath. The flustered young man cast a caring glance at Dash, who began to breathe loudly and slowly, as if he were sleeping peacefully. Hahphyjh's face split into a smile for a second, then he turned and walked through the door. Dash couldn't say for sure, but it looked like he had a serious limp.

Another man came into the room and leaned on the door frame. There was a pause. Dash groaned and rolled over. "Come on, man," his visitor said teasingly, "I know you're awake."

Dash turned to face him. He still couldn't see, but something about him was familiar.

The man's pants were blue, a denim shade – probably jeans, and very baggy, it seemed. He had a tee-shirt on, white, also baggy. He was hanging a large, red article of clothing on a hanger. Dash strained to see what it was, but in vain.

"So," the man said, interrupting Dash's thoughts, "You ready to go home?"

"Ah," Dash shrugged, "Why not? It's cool here and all, but, you know…"

There was a pause. Dash thought, _He must be smiling at me_.

"Well," Dash's company said, walking toward the door, "I thought you might want a little more time to rest, but if you're sure, let's get you out of here."

Dash sat up and put one foot on the floor when he heard a crash. He looked up.

The man was lying on the floor. "I'm OK!" he said, "I'm OK!"

Then Dash realized who he was dealing with.

"You – are you that super hero guy?" he asked.

The man leapt to his feet. "That's me! Captain Awesome, the coolest super hero that ever lived!"

"Wow," Dash said, "From how Hahphyjh described you, I thought you'd be more, well, stupid."

"Thanks a lot. Is that what you call the guy with the sword? I never knew he had a name."

"We made up a name for him."

"That would explain it."

Dash groaned and rubbed his head. "So what happened? Why am I here?"

"I don't know all of it, but your friend said that you were zoned out from Eternity, and he tackled you to save you. He landed on top of his sword. The hilt jammed up his hip pretty bad, so he can't move his leg too well."

Dash grimaced. "Beautiful."

"You were unconscious. You looked horrible – you were pale as a ghost, and your eyes were all bloodshot and glazed over."

Minor pause.

"So why were you guys in that building?"

"Which one?"

"The '_Freak Out!_' one."

"Oh. He was showing it to me. I asked."

Another pause. Dash lifted himself gently to his feet. He staggered. Captain Awesome helped him out the door.

Hahphyjh was coming up the path toward them. "Hey," he called, "there's a portal near the arcade, downtown."

"Portal?" Dash said quizzically.

Captain Awesome grinned. "Yeah," he said, "You came here, did you not? Then you've already been through a portal."

"Oh," Dash said, "That's what that was."

"What did you think?"

"**_I WAS FREAKING OUT!_** What was I supposed to think? Sheesh."

Hahphyjh cleared his throat loudly. "They said it's going to leave soon, so we'd better get down there."

"That's a long way to go," Captain Awesome advised, "By the time you get there, it'll be gone already. We should wait for the next position."

"But we… he needs to…" Hahphyjh sighed. "OK, you're right. For once."

Dash looked up at the superhero. "He really doesn't like you," he whispered, "does he?"

Captain Awesome laughed. "We'd better get down to the station," he said, wiping his eyes, "so we can find out where the portal's going to end up next."

"The portal moved a while ago," said a short, black-haired man who was sitting in a large, cushioned chair in front of a gigantic monitor. On the screen was a detailed map of the entire area known as Tomville, which was quite a bit larger than Dash thought. "It was originally here –" he tapped the screen near the center of a large city "– but is now… ahh… about here." His finger rested in the middle of a cluster of trees that jutted out from a humongous forest, not far from the path that Dash had landed when he arrived.

Captain Awesome gaped. "But that's –"

"Shhh!" Hahphyjh hissed. Dash didn't like that.

A round of low-pitched chirping broke out in the underbrush as Dash passed it. He shuddered. "There seem to be a lot of those things around here," he said nervously.

"You have no idea," Hahphyjh said, shaking his head.

Dash fell quiet. Looking around, he noticed three things: one, that it was getting noticeably gloomier and a little bit colder as they went farther into the trees, two, that the silences were getting more uncomfortable, and three, that Hahphyjh and Captain Awesome were getting more and more vigilant, even to the point of being awkward. Trying desperately to think of something to say in order to break the silence, he said, "Why's it getting so dark?" There was a long pause.

His two companions began to stutter.

Dash bit his lip. He was about to say that he loved running in forests (which was a lie), when he suddenly got the odd feeling that someone was watching him. He stopped in his tracks, slowly turning around. Almost directly behind him, a large figure flashed by, too fast to make out. "Um, guys?" he whimpered, dancing backward toward his friends. He looked up at them. They were both staring up into the trees above.

Hahphyjh held up a hand. "We heard something," he said quietly.

Dash backed up against his leg. "There's something reeeeeally big out there," he said, pointing.

Hahphyjh turned to barely see the figure dive behind a bush. He took a single step backward. "… Run!" he hissed.

They soon came to a small clearing, where there was a single ray of sunlight streaming through the trees. "That's it?" Dash asked. "That's it," was Hahphyjh's answer. There was a loud crash behind them. "Go!" shouted Captain Awesome, and he and Hahphyjh circled around Dash, who took a deep breath and dove into the sunlight as a deafening roar broke out behind him.

"Oof!" he gasped as he landed in clean, green grass. He looked up. He was in the meadow he had run through earlier. There was his house! He got up and began to run toward it. Gripping the sock rope he had made, he climbed up and into bed, and as he pulled the covers over his head, the door opened, and he heard his mother whisper, "See, he's in bed. What a good boy."

"Hey," his father said, "I didn't say anything against the little guy, I just…" His voice faded as he walked back down the hallway.

"Good night, Dash," Helen murmured, then closed the door.

Dash smiled, then lifted his head and gazed out the window at the meadow. He'd have to try to get back into that place again.

Just as he was about to get back into bed, he got that creepy feeling that he was being watched…

_That's logical thinking right there, folks, go ahead and try to figure it out! It'll all be revealed next chapter. Tell me if you got it right when it comes out! But as of right now, how about sending in one of those things you call "reviews"?_


	4. Weirded Out

_Sigh boring chapter. Ach, whatever._

_**Disclaimer: **Yes._

**Chapter 4**

**Weirded Out**

Yawning, Dash stumbled into the kitchen. "Good morning, Dash," Helen said drowsily.

Dash slumped into his chair. He looked down to see a plate of scrambled eggs with a large pile of pancakes in the corner. All traces of sleepiness disappeared. "All right!" he shouted, "Thanks Mom!" Then he started shoveling food into his mouth.

Helen sighed. "A big beautiful breakfast," she said, "and it's gone just as fast as a bowl of cheap, sugary cereal."

"Just be glad he's eating it at all," Violet said with a little smile.

"Plus, this is Dash we're talking about," Bob put in, "He can't do anything slower than full speed."

Dash stopped eating just long enough to glare at them.

"Oh, great," Helen groaned, looking into the pantry, "I've got to go to the store. Looks like we had a little visitor recently – and he's taken the liberty to clean out the cupboards."

"How do you know it was a he?" Dash interrupted, smirking, "I know a few female rats."

Violet snarled at him, "Why you little…"

Helen rolled her eyes. "You kids clean your rooms when I'm gone," she said, "and Bob, you do, I dunno, whatever you've got to do." Then she lifted her purse from the counter, slung it over her shoulder, and left.

Dash and Violet exchanged glances, then turned to their father. There was an awkward silence, then Bob asked, "You gonna eat that, Vi?"

Violet looked down at the uneaten slice of toast pushed off to the side of her plate. She pushed it toward him. "Go for it, Dad."

Suddenly, the doorbell rang. Bob shoved the rest of the toast into his mouth and knocked the chair over getting up. He opened the door. "Hey, Lucius," Dash called. Lucius nodded, smiling. "Hey, guys. How's it going?" Bob waved to them, grabbing his coat. "Me and Lucius are… uh… We've got something we need to do. Finish your breakfast, then go clean your room, like Mom told you to."

Jack Jack yawned loudly in his room down the hall.

"And take care of Jack Jack!" he added hastily. "See you later!"

There was a long silence after the slam of the door. Dash clapped Violet on the shoulder. "Well, Vi, have fun with the little guy!" Then he zipped down the hall into his room and slammed the door.

Helen grunted as she heaved the last bag of groceries into the car. Getting into the driver's seat, she started the car and began the drive home.

About halfway, while Helen was stopped at a red light, a large green dragonfly flittered across the windshield. Fascinated, Helen watched it as it alighted on a bush and – what was that on the ground?

The car behind her honked. She looked up at the light. It had turned green.

She quickly flicked on the right turn signal. The road she turned onto was dirt. A thick cloud of dust hung over it. She hesitated for a second, then pulled over to the side of the road. She glanced out the window toward the unidentified object beside the bush, and… With a gasp she realized what it was. From the previous angle, it was indistinguishable, but from her current position it was clear…

Shutters banging, the front door burst open. Violet's head popped out of her room. "Mom?" she called.

"Vi!" Helen said, "Little help –" she grunted, "– please!"

Violet blinked. She walked out to the kitchen and pulled the door back open – it had swung shut again – to see her mother and a strange man trying to carry an unconscious boy into the house. With a gasp, she went to help.

The three stood in a semi-circle around the living room couch, watching the boy's slow, quiet breathing and gently twitching eyes. He was teenaged, maybe around 15 or 16, with smoothly flowing tannish hair, a light brown with a mild shade of sandy blond layered on. Violet pitied him, lying there lifelessly… Lord knew for how long he'd been like that. From the smoothness of his hair, it appeared to be for not that long, but his face and hands were dirty, as were his clothes. He looked the rugged type, a go-get-'em kind of guy, yet more peaceable than most guys of his sort – and really, quite good-looking.

"Who is he?" Violet asked.

Helen bit her lip and sighed. "We don't know," she said, shaking her head, steady gaze locked on the unfortunate boy.

The man who had helped her made a "tsk" noise, gently shaking his head. "Your mom

found him unconscious on the side of the road," he said, "I saw her struggling to get him into her car, so I pulled over and helped her out."

"Thanks again for that, by the way," Helen broke in, smiling.

The man jerked his head back, tossing some of his shoulder-length, dark brown hair out of his piercing green eyes. "It was the least I could do. Really, it was nothing."

He turned back to Violet. "So, yeah, I helped her get him over here. Ah! I'm sorry. Greg Jade."

He extended a hand toward her with a friendly half-grin. She glanced at it, then shook it. "Violet Parr."

"Pleasure." He winked at her. Turning to Helen, he said, "Maybe I'll see you guys around sometime again?"

"Maybe!"

"Stay cool."

"Bye."

He tossed his head back again, and turned to Violet. "Take care of your mom."

She smiled. "Will do."

"Catch you later."

"See you." She grinned. "Maybe."

Greg walked slowly, surely, to the door. He pulled it shut behind him, pausing for a moment, eyes out at the horizon. Smiling, he strode over to a window, gazing in at the boy on the couch and the girl before him, a questioning light of wonder glinting in her eyes. "No," he answered her comment under his breath. Watching Violet leave the room, he stared at the boy, at his closed eyes. He shook his head with a sly smile. "Without doubt."

As he turned and left, the boy's eye twitched.

That night, as Dash and Violet went up to bed, Helen slumped onto a chair next to her husband, who was hunched over, watching the news – elbow on knee, head on hand, eyes half-closed. "Rough day," she said quietly, with the smallest traces of a smile lingering about her lips.

He sat up and stretched. "More strange than straight-out rough," he said drowsily.

Helen shrugged. "Very true."

She glanced over at the young boy on the couch, who was twitching ever so slightly. He settled as her eyes passed over him. She tilted her head to the side, gazing at him more intently. There was something very weird about him, something she couldn't put her finger on. Bob was right – it had been a very strange day. And, now that she thought about it, every last bit of that abnormality had revolved around the kid who was now lying on her couch, in her living room, in her house.

As she climbed the stairs to the bedroom, Bob trailing behind, she knew. She knew something very screwed up would happen, even by superhero standards. She knew she and her family would play a significant part in it. She knew she wouldn't like it. But she knew that it was inescapable, and maybe, maybe they would come out of it just fine. In one way or another, it would haunt them the rest of their lives, perhaps beyond that. And as she paused before the mirror in the bathroom, she believed that it really wouldn't be that bad.

And down on the sofa, the boy rolled over with a soft grunt that sounded like…

"_Helen._"

_Yes, I know that last chapter I promised I'd tell you who was watching Dash _**BUT**_ – I have learned my lesson. Never ever make promises. No, that wasn't the right lesson, but I learned it anyway!_

_Yes, it has been a long time since Chappie le Third, but I've been experiencing some difficulties, as I probably will from now 'till final fanfic come. I apologize, but really I don't have to because I'm in control here, and I have you readers in the palm of my hand, and if the hand ain't there, the readers won't be for very long either. I apologize anyway, as we all know that I am not capable of the cruelty described in the previous sentence. Besides, I'm getting better. Y'all know I'm getting sooo much better at writing this bugger. Y'all know it._

_OK, well, catch you next chappie! Ciao!_


	5. Monsters and Memories

_Ah, the good stuff begins! I'm so proud of myself that I got this far. I usually (try to) write novels, so the rising action stage is a new achievement for me. _**YES!**

_Disclaimer: The Incredibles and Syndrome belong to Disney/Pixar. Urnox, Aernox, and Sam belong to yours truly. _**YES!**

**Chapter 5**

**Monsters and Memories**

Dash's eyes gently slid open to darkness. He sat up groggily, switching on the lamp at his bedside and looking up at the clock on the wall. It read 3:07. Judging by the fact that his room was completely dark save for the light emanated from his lamp and the night light under his desk in the corner, that was 3 AM. Grumbling, he looked around rubbing his right eye. Why had he woken so early?…

Violet gradually sat up in her bed, blinking slowly. Her room was pitch black. She reached over and turned on the lamp on the coffee table she had set next to her bed. The flowered shade distorted the light and cast eerie shadows across the walls. She shook her head violently, causing her hair to scatter in all directions. With a large quantity of it over her face, she got out of bed and walked toward the door, glancing at her alarm clock as she went. It read 3:07 in the morning.

Walking out into the hallway, she nearly ran into Dash, who also was coming out of his room. "Why are you up so early?" she asked him, yawning.

"I could ask you the same question," he snarled.

"I don't think I'm awake yet," was her sleepy reply.

At that moment, their parents' door swung open, and Helen walked out, closely followed by Bob.

"What is this," Dash said sarcastically, "party in the hall?"

Violet yawned again. "Just shut up."

"He has a point," their father put in, "Why is everyone awake?"

Not two seconds after he said what they all had been thinking, something very big and very strong rammed against the house.

The family ran down the stairs and out the front door at top speed, Helen cradling Jack-Jack in her arms. They all looked around wildly, searching for their assailant. Suddenly something that looked like a cross between a bat and a lizard the size of a large fighter jet soared overhead on enormous wings, loosing a piercing screech. It banked sharply and dove toward the supers.

It was a strange grey-blue color. Its head was short and stout, with small, beady black eyes, sharp, beak-like lips and two huge fangs reinforced by an incalculable number of smaller but just as threatening teeth. Three large spines jutted from the back of its neck in a line, each progressively smaller further from the head. Its arms were connected to its wings, with its fingers being the separations between each leathery section and its thumb a small claw at the top of the wing, much like a bat's. Its tail was long, with a spike at the end that resembled a highly decorated arrowhead. Its legs were thin, but muscular, with three toes, one extending out from the back of the foot, so that it could pass as a thumb. Each toe ended in a menacingly curved claw.

The massive creature screeched again, extending its claws towards them. At the last minute, Bob leapt out in front of his family and wrapped his fingers around those of his foe. With a grunt of exertion, he hurled the monster out away from the house. It curled up into a ball – like a cannonball rocketing towards the neighboring homes – and just before impact, it opened up and began furiously beating its wings, completely changing the direction of flight. It screamed again, then began circling the Parrs slowly. Once again, it let out a shriek. This time, the call was answered.

From around the back of the house came a roar so loud and so deep the ground seemed to tremble. An even larger monster darted out toward them. In a way, it resembled a crocodile, except for the grey coloring that was so dark it was almost black. Its head was shaped as such, its body thick with unimaginable strength. However, it possessed human-like arms rippling with muscle, each finger tipped with claws just like the flying creature's. It had six legs, each very long and very thin, like spider's legs. It balanced on the tips of the legs, having no discernable feet. The tail, the teeth, and the spines on the neck were exactly the same as its companion's. Its eyes were large, with slitted pupils and blazing red irises.

It roared again, boasting an enormous tongue that tapered to a point at the end. It was a dark red that reminded the Parrs of blood, and danced slightly as the waves of sound poured out of the creature's mouth. And with that, it charged.

The family of supers knew now that they were in trouble. It was only with luck that their father had been able to fend off the flying beast, which would most likely not fall for that again. That, and the crocodile one would be near impossible to fend off. And now, these two unstoppable fiends were both coming at them from opposite sides.

As the Parrs huddled together in a last embrace, as they watched their doom swiftly charge towards them, suddenly, doom stopped in its tracks. The creatures froze, cowering in fear, turned, and fled into the darkness. The family watched them go, stunned into silence. Then they turned, staring in awe at what had caused the beasts to surrender their prey. There in the doorway, looking as if he had not seen what had just happened, seeming confused, stood the boy that had lain unconscious on their sofa for the last two days.

Each of the Parrs had their own ideas of what he would say when he woke up. None had ever expected, simple as it was, that he would say what he did.

Softly, quietly, he asked them, "Where the hell am I?"

The Parrs said nothing, instead continuing to gape at him. He matched their stares with an unblinking gaze that looked as if the knowledge of every movement of the universe lurked behind them. Then he sat down on the step without making a sound. After a short while, he began to stretch his fingers, listening to the bones make tiny popping noises, and slowly rolled his head around in a circle. After this routine, he bent his legs, wrapping his arms around his knees at chest level. He began gently rocking back and forth in this position, glancing around at the house, the trees, and the sky. He let out a heavy sigh, aimed upwards, so that it caught hold of a good portion of his bangs and lifted them. Violet couldn't help but grin at the innocent antics of the boy.

She stuck out an elbow and nudged her father, knocking him out of his stunned trance. He glanced down at her with a dumb look. She jerked her head pointedly at the boy on their porch. Gaining control of his limp jaw, Bob stepped forward.

"Hi," he said lamely, mentally smacked himself, then continued, "I'm Bob Parr."

The unnamed boy before him glanced at the beastly hand Bob had extended. He paused, just the slightest pause that did as much to calm his host's nerves as an hour's worth of venomous glaring, then gripped the hand with his own and shook it.

Bob opened his mouth to say something, lost it on the tip of his tongue. After a moment of awkward silence, he said, "I bet you're wondering why you woke up in my house, huh?"

Dash clapped a hand to his forehead.

The boy shrugged, smiled. "It crossed my mind," he replied.

Bob chuckled. "My wife, Helen," he said, gesturing to her, "found you unconscious on the side of the road. She brought you back here. You were out of it for three days."

"Jeez," the boy said, drawing in air through clenched teeth so that it made a hissing noise. He shifted his weight. "Was I hit by a car, or what?"

Helen found herself next to her husband. "We don't know," she answered quietly. Then, after a pause, "You didn't look like you were."

The boy nodded. "That's good."

Bob brought his children forward. "These are our kids, Dash and Violet."

They greeted him nervously.

He nodded again, to them, then looked back at Bob. "They usually this quiet?" he asked, a smile playing on his lips.

Dash found this comment against his pleasure, and took it upon himself to prove their visitor wrong. "No way!" he said excitedly, "I'm actually really annoying. Ask anyone! And watch this!" He broke into a top-speed sprint around his family.

"Dash!" they hissed.

Several laps – or a few seconds – later, Bob snatched Dash into the air and set him back down, grinning innocently.

The boy tilted his head to the side, narrowed his eyes, and wagged a finger at Dash. "Are you supposed to be able to do that?" he asked.

"Nope!" Dash blurted, launching into another excited explanation, "I'm a super! We're all supers!"

"Dash!" his family groaned again.

The boy let a grin crease his face and, after a slight pause, noted, "I wasn't supposed to know that, was I?

In coordination with another group groan, Dash said, "Nope!"

The boy shook his head, chucking.

Bob took another step forward. "Look," he said, "what's your name?"

The boy was quiet for a moment, then said, "Sam."

"Last name?"

There was another pause, longer this time. Then Sam sighed and said, "I don't know."

Bob was taken aback. "You don't _KNOW?_" he said, aghast.

Sam shrugged, sighed again. "I don't know. I can't remember."

Bob stared at him. "Who are you?"

Sam was silent.

The atmosphere of the Parr household was considerably colder after that day. Sam was allowed to stay, but the walls had never known such an uncomfortable calm. The floors were no longer pounded by Dash's scrabbling feet. Rarely did a single word pass Violet's lips. Even Jack-Jack was abnormally tranquil. Dinners were awkward and often just shy of completely silent with this identity-less young man sitting amongst the family, seldom eating. Time and again he sat leaning back, arms folded, chin in hand, fingers gently massaging his lower lip, staring through the food on his plate with a look of incredibly deep thinking.

On this particular evening, on the fifth day of Sam's residence there, the hesitance of previous dinners was far outdone by a discomforting silence. Not even Bob and Helen touched their food. Something seemed to have been hanging over their heads ever since Sam woke up that had now finally manifested itself. And, as if to prove that point, Bob suddenly spoke up.

"Sam," he said, after a moment's uncertainty that he had to fight off before continuing, "what were those monsters that attacked us that night?"

Sam looked at him blankly. "What night?" he said, "When I woke up?"

"Yeah."

There was a pause.

"I don't know."

Another pause, longer.

"You don't…?"

Sam sighed, clicked his tongue. "Nope."

There was a very long pause. All eyes were on Sam.

He took a breath, began to say something and stopped, licked his lips, and looked up at Bob, and Bob alone.

"Look, I'm sorry, I haven't been a lot of help around here…"

"No, no, it's fine, it's…"

"I'm just…"

"It's really alright, I don't expect you to do anything huge…"

"I just can't remember anything…"

"It's alright, you're a kid, you're…"

"I can't… I just can't…"

"It's OK. It's all going to be OK. You're more than welcome here. It's OK."

And at this point it was comfort rather than stuttered attempts at reassurance, because at that moment Bob saw something that shocked him, despite himself: a tear. A shimmering flow of water that cascaded silently down Sam's cheek, in the most unexpected place, at the most unexpected time, and from the most unexpected person.

"I just…" he sobbed quietly, "I just can't…"

None of the Parrs dared say a word, because none could think of what to say. Sam was allowed to cry.

"I can't even remember my name…" He was openly weeping now, crying out his laments. "I don't even know who I _am!_"

And he said no more after that, because at that moment, Helen interjected with, "You didn't before. But you do now."

Sam's bleary eyes turned up to meet hers. She stood, walked around to him, and, stooping to his eye level, grasped his hand.

"You're Sam Parr," she whispered.

He gazed at her for a while longer, then his eyes slid closed, and he laid his head on his arm.

"Boy," Dash said, "he fell asleep fast."

Ignoring him, Helen lifted Sam's sleeping form out of his chair with some difficulty, but as gently as she could, and carried him into the living room and laid him on the couch on which he slept.

Bob said nothing as his wife slid under the covers beside him. She lay silently for a while, then rolled over to face him and said, "Why don't you trust him?"

"Huh? Who?"

"You know."

"Oh, Sam? Who says I don't trust him?"

"You don't. I can tell."

"I don't not trust… I _do_ trust him!"

"You don't."

"OK, I'm a little uneasy about him, I admit it, but I'm not suspicious of him."

"Uneasy?"

"Yes, uneasy."

"More like unsettled."

"That seems a harsh way to put it."

"It fits."

Bob sighed. "He's weird," he said after a short silence.

"Don't say that. That's derogatory."

"Well, it fits."

Helen glowered at him. "Don't be like that."

Bob held up his hand in surrender.

Helen rolled back over, away from him. A strange feeling began to flood over her, a queasiness, like her whole body was asleep, then it faded, and she was asleep.

_Yay, end of Chapter Five! How was it? Send me a review and let me know,  
'cause I'm dying to know what you think! Personally, I'm _SO_ proud… tell me if I should be –  
I will indeed be joyful. And that's no lie._

_I promise, Chapter Six will be _INTENSE_. You're just going to have to trust me on that,  
tbough. I don't know if I would if I were you. Being me._


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